It shouldn’t. The VW scandal was about an intentionally designed deception to criminally subvert the emissions testing process and falsely claim that these vehicles were both clean and efficient. That is entirely different from issuing a software fix to prevent hardware shutdowns that result from degraded batteries.
In Apple’s case, people are mostly angry over something that is a false narrative of “planned obsolescence.” Apple’s software fix is designed specifically to prevent a shutdown problem which, if left alone, would undoubtedly have resulted in more users upgrading their phones sooner. The supposed “lack of transparency” on Apple’s part is a no-win scenario. If they had issued a more detailed explanation of the power management fix in the release notes, most people still wouldn’t have read them, and if some clever person did, and shared it around, it would just as likely have been done under the same incorrect “planned obsolescence” narrative that’s spinning around right now.
Either way, this is not a deceptive practice, and is nothing like the VW scandal, which absolutely was an engineered deception.
The lawsuits are going to die on the vine anyway. Apple has never promised a level of performance, and the battery has always been labeled a user consumable. Additionally, the throttling routines were announced with the iOS 10.2.1 update to keep the phones from crashing altogether, but perhaps with not quite enough granularity.
Apple feels the need to roll over on this one because there’s a segment of consumers that are five, and don’t get the point of the way the iPhone functions under the circumstances as explained by Apple. It’s a total non-issue, but sometimes you have to simply bow to the absurd.
They're only doing this after they got caught, and it still doesn't help users that already changed devices.
Caught doing what? The reduced peak power draw feature is a year old. Caught making expired batteries last longer despite being expired? Whoops, guilty!
There are many other reasons other than the depleting battery. My iPhone 6 Pluses have 89% to 95%. They don't shut down. What about Apple Watch Series 2? Why doesn't it responsive after upgraded to watchOS 4.2? When I bought my iPhone 6 Plus as a replacement of the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4S vs 6 Plus gave me the same experience today for comparing the iPhone 6 Plus vs iPhone X.
Why AppleInsider doesn't address other reasons and complaints besides the Apple official excuse of a depleting battery?
Forget GeekBench4, it doesn't show the reality. Is there any other apps showing you the original time and latest time required to do the following actions:
1. to do a screenshot 2. to delete an app 3. to successfully perform a gesture on the touchscreen 4. to open the camera and be able to take a picture 5. to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
When I bought a new iPhone 6 Plus, all 1 to 5 actions mentioned about took only a fraction of a second.
Now, the iPhone 6 Plus takes: - 6 to 10 seconds to do a screenshot - 20 to 40 seconds to delete an app - twice or multiple times to perform a gesture - about 10 seconds to take a picture - 2-3 seconds to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
Today, my iPhone 3GS performs the above functions similar to iPhone 4S and much faster than the iPhone 6 Plus. And the iPhone 4S is taking a picture as fast as an iPhone X! Why?
In just 2 years time, I am expecting the iPhone X will be slowed down along the same way as my iPhone 6 Plus.
The battery health report should have been in iOS 10.2.1 along side the throttling "feature". Apple should have been up front about a known hardware defect they specifically identified as a primary cause of random shutdowns. The secrecy is what fueled the conspiracy theories, particularly since there has been speculation of throttling for over a year and Apple didn't address it until it reached a critical mass.
The slowness issue has started with iOS 11 as I followed in these forums and as Apple confirmed by tracing it back to this fall. There is nothing wrong with secrecy until you complete all your tests and you diagnose the issue. So do not push that to infer a business malpractice from the development of a latest technical issue. As for the battery health report with this or that version of iOS, anyone can submit a feedback to Apple about that. Yet even with the lack of that feature, Apple provided battery testing during support process. Bringing that testing to the user’s own device is an additional enhancement and a wise move to reduce support time.
There are many other reasons other than the depleting battery. My iPhone 6 Pluses have 89% to 95%. They don't shut down. What about Apple Watch Series 2? Why doesn't it responsive after upgraded to watchOS 4.2? When I bought my iPhone 6 Plus as a replacement of the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4S vs 6 Plus gave me the same experience today for comparing the iPhone 6 Plus vs iPhone X.
Why AppleInsider doesn't address other reasons and complaints besides the Apple official excuse of a depleting battery?
Forget GeekBench4, it doesn't show the reality. Is there any other apps showing you the original time and latest time required to do the following actions:
1. to do a screenshot 2. to delete an app 3. to successfully perform a gesture on the touchscreen 4. to open the camera and be able to take a picture 5. to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
When I bought a new iPhone 6 Plus, all 1 to 5 actions mentioned about took only a fraction of a second.
Now, the iPhone 6 Plus takes: - 6 to 10 seconds to do a screenshot - 20 to 40 seconds to delete an app - twice or multiple times to perform a gesture - about 10 seconds to take a picture - 2-3 seconds to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
Today, my iPhone 3GS performs the above functions similar to iPhone 4S and much faster than the iPhone 6 Plus. And the iPhone 4S is taking a picture as fast as an iPhone X! Why?
In just 2 years time, I am expecting the iPhone X will be slowed down along the same way as my iPhone 6 Plus.
If you have such substantial issues, then your place is Genius Bar or any other authorized service provider, not media forums. The trained support staff will run tests on your iPhone and diagnose the issue and tell whether your troubles arise from an aging battery, from a defective logic board, from drops or water intrusion. What do you expect to find in a forum ? You ask simply “why”? Who would know why? There are myriads of reasons for your troubles.
... although it would be better if this price was permanent.
Agreed... Apple battery replacement pricing has always been a bag of hurt.. I get that they want good profit on everything, and that’s a sound business strategy I guess, but batteries? Couldn’t batteries be an exception? Or at least they could include one heavily discounted battery replacement for every machine, once the battery starts to wear out.
Apple’s original stance was “IPhone batteries last the life of the phone”. That’s how they justified making it enclosed, when everyone else was making them easily replaceable.
I don't recall anyone at Apple saying batteries will last forever. They made it enclosed because most people never change the batteries.
There are many other reasons other than the depleting battery. My iPhone 6 Pluses have 89% to 95%. They don't shut down. What about Apple Watch Series 2? Why doesn't it responsive after upgraded to watchOS 4.2? When I bought my iPhone 6 Plus as a replacement of the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4S vs 6 Plus gave me the same experience today for comparing the iPhone 6 Plus vs iPhone X.
Why AppleInsider doesn't address other reasons and complaints besides the Apple official excuse of a depleting battery?
Forget GeekBench4, it doesn't show the reality. Is there any other apps showing you the original time and latest time required to do the following actions:
1. to do a screenshot 2. to delete an app 3. to successfully perform a gesture on the touchscreen 4. to open the camera and be able to take a picture 5. to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
When I bought a new iPhone 6 Plus, all 1 to 5 actions mentioned about took only a fraction of a second.
Now, the iPhone 6 Plus takes: - 6 to 10 seconds to do a screenshot - 20 to 40 seconds to delete an app - twice or multiple times to perform a gesture - about 10 seconds to take a picture - 2-3 seconds to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
Today, my iPhone 3GS performs the above functions similar to iPhone 4S and much faster than the iPhone 6 Plus. And the iPhone 4S is taking a picture as fast as an iPhone X! Why?
In just 2 years time, I am expecting the iPhone X will be slowed down along the same way as my iPhone 6 Plus.
I said from day one when this first errupted this would be a huge PR problem for Apple. I wasn’t wrong. This is a good step though I agree with Ben Bajarin the $29 battery price should be permanent. Also I’m seeing quite a few posts from people saying their phone was fine with iOS 10 but when they upgraded to iOS 11 it really started to slow down. Seems there’s more issues than just the battery. Hopefully future point releases will fix these issues.
The lawsuits are going to die on the vine anyway. Apple has never promised a level of performance, and the battery has always been labeled a user consumable. Additionally, the throttling routines were announced with the iOS 10.2.1 update to keep the phones from crashing altogether, but perhaps with not quite enough granularity.
I'm not so sure at least the Harvey one won't continue. You've still a couple of groups of consumers with a viable claim for damages.
First are those that went into an Apple Store with performance problems, Genius Bar test showed the battery was above 80% capacity, and they were denied a replacement even if the device was under warranty or AppleCare. Assuming the battery capacity test can be successful even if the voltage output drops to the point to trigger throttling, those consumers didn't get the service they were entitled to. They are going to expect the no-charge fix they should have gotten in the first place.
In addition to that group, there are some that claim they gave up after the Apple Genius told them their phone battery tested fine and there was nothing Apple was going to do so they purchased a new device. The information needed for the consumer to decide to spend $79 on a replacement battery to fix the performance problem was known to Apple through the throttling routine on the phone (they said themselves their fix had eliminated 70% of the shutdowns according to diagnostic data transmitted from customers' phones) but was not communicated to the customer or apparently the Apple Genius personnel doing the capacity test. These customers relied on Apple employees (as agents for Apple) telling them their phone was performing as expected with no battery issues even though Apple had clandestinely implemented a throttling routine.
A battery may be a consumable item, but Apple employees directly told at least some consumers their batteries were fine even though they had degraded enough to apparently trigger the throttling. To the extent Apple knew or should have known their agents were providing false or misleading information those claims may go forward.
I said from day one when this first errupted this would be a huge PR problem for Apple. I wasn’t wrong. This is a good step though I agree with Ben Bajarin the $29 battery price should be permanent. Also I’m seeing quite a few posts from people saying their phone was fine with iOS 10 but when they upgraded to iOS 11 it really started to slow down. Seems there’s more issues than just the battery. Hopefully future point releases will fix these issues.
That huge PR problem exists in your wild imagination. No serious engineer talks without getting the results of the tests, benchmarks and other analysis. And Apple is managed by a serious engineer.
They're only doing this after they got caught, and it still doesn't help users that already changed devices.
Pretty evident that Tim knew about this and Approved this last year otherwise he would make a Sr executive walk the plank like Forstall had to. Remember he also let Uber get a away with some dirty stuff - never yanked them out of the apps store - just a stern talking to. Lol.
No one really knows why Forstall was fired. Rumor (rumor) has it he wouldn’t sign a letter apologizing for the Maps launch. It is also rumored his peers hated working with him.
People: "Apple, you're slowing down my phone without telling me!"
HTC and Motorola: "We don't slow down our phones!"
Apple: "We slow down our phones so they don't shut down while you're trying to call 911, but since that bothers some of you we'll give everyone a 60% discount on a new battery and the ability to see your battery's health."
People: "Thank you, Apple. That's why we love you."
HTC and Motorola: "Oh. Crap."
You mean “Oh. Crap.” now we’ll need to add battery monitoring to our phones that everyone should have had anyways.
Some Good has come out of this...
The phone already monitors the battery, and has done for some time. It’ll tell you when it needs replacing.
On an iPhone running iOS 10.2.1 or later, this notice might appear in Settings > Battery: “Your iPhone battery may need to be serviced.”
Using diagnostics in iOS, we've detected that the battery in your iPhone may need to be replaced. When a battery gets closer to the end of its lifespan, the amount of charge and the ability to provide power reduces. As a result, a battery may need to be charged more and more frequently and your iPhone might experience unexpected shutdowns.
This isn’t a safety issue, it’s just to let you know that your battery may need to be replaced. You can continue to use your iPhone until you have your battery checked. There are various factors that can affect the performance and lifespan of your device’s battery, including number of charge cycles, age of your battery, and exposure to extreme heat or cold. Learn more about maximizing battery life and lifespan.
Mmm, basically they’ve repeated what they’ve been saying in the support document.
... although it would be better if this price was permanent.
Agreed... Apple battery replacement pricing has always been a bag of hurt.. I get that they want good profit on everything, and that’s a sound business strategy I guess, but batteries? Couldn’t batteries be an exception? Or at least they could include one heavily discounted battery replacement for every machine, once the battery starts to wear out.
Apple’s original stance was “IPhone batteries last the life of the phone”. That’s how they justified making it enclosed, when everyone else was making them easily replaceable.
Cite your reference. iphone batteries have always been replaceable consumables. apple has never claimed the original will last the entire lifetime of the device...
They're only doing this after they got caught, and it still doesn't help users that already changed devices.
Are you just here to troll? Seriously...You're just here to try and rub salt into every wound possible otherwise you never post. You have 71 posts of just Apple negativity.
Troll is as troll does. His history paints a clear picture of his agenda.
I said from day one when this first errupted this would be a huge PR problem for Apple. I wasn’t wrong. This is a good step though I agree with Ben Bajarin the $29 battery price should be permanent. Also I’m seeing quite a few posts from people saying their phone was fine with iOS 10 but when they upgraded to iOS 11 it really started to slow down. Seems there’s more issues than just the battery. Hopefully future point releases will fix these issues.
That huge PR problem exists in your wild imagination. No serious engineer talks without getting the results of the tests, benchmarks and other analysis. And Apple is managed by a serious engineer.
Ha, if it only exists in my imagination why did Apple release a statement? Why did they reduce the price of a battery replacement by $50? Why are they adding new features to iOS to give customers more visibility to the health of their battery? This was a huge PR issue that has affected Apple’s reputation and people’s trust in the company. You have have your head in the sand if you think otherwise.
Comments
It shouldn’t. The VW scandal was about an intentionally designed deception to criminally subvert the emissions testing process and falsely claim that these vehicles were both clean and efficient. That is entirely different from issuing a software fix to prevent hardware shutdowns that result from degraded batteries.
In Apple’s case, people are mostly angry over something that is a false narrative of “planned obsolescence.” Apple’s software fix is designed specifically to prevent a shutdown problem which, if left alone, would undoubtedly have resulted in more users upgrading their phones sooner. The supposed “lack of transparency” on Apple’s part is a no-win scenario. If they had issued a more detailed explanation of the power management fix in the release notes, most people still wouldn’t have read them, and if some clever person did, and shared it around, it would just as likely have been done under the same incorrect “planned obsolescence” narrative that’s spinning around right now.
Either way, this is not a deceptive practice, and is nothing like the VW scandal, which absolutely was an engineered deception.
Keep peddling your agenda, bro.
Why AppleInsider doesn't address other reasons and complaints besides the Apple official excuse of a depleting battery?
Forget GeekBench4, it doesn't show the reality. Is there any other apps showing you the original time and latest time required to do the following actions:
1. to do a screenshot
2. to delete an app
3. to successfully perform a gesture on the touchscreen
4. to open the camera and be able to take a picture
5. to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
When I bought a new iPhone 6 Plus, all 1 to 5 actions mentioned about took only a fraction of a second.
Now, the iPhone 6 Plus takes:
- 6 to 10 seconds to do a screenshot
- 20 to 40 seconds to delete an app
- twice or multiple times to perform a gesture
- about 10 seconds to take a picture
- 2-3 seconds to take a picture after the shutter button is pressed
Today, my iPhone 3GS performs the above functions similar to iPhone 4S and much faster than the iPhone 6 Plus. And the iPhone 4S is taking a picture as fast as an iPhone X! Why?
In just 2 years time, I am expecting the iPhone X will be slowed down along the same way as my iPhone 6 Plus.
http://mglenn.com/blog/2017/12/22/apples-bungled-battery-feature
First are those that went into an Apple Store with performance problems, Genius Bar test showed the battery was above 80% capacity, and they were denied a replacement even if the device was under warranty or AppleCare. Assuming the battery capacity test can be successful even if the voltage output drops to the point to trigger throttling, those consumers didn't get the service they were entitled to. They are going to expect the no-charge fix they should have gotten in the first place.
In addition to that group, there are some that claim they gave up after the Apple Genius told them their phone battery tested fine and there was nothing Apple was going to do so they purchased a new device. The information needed for the consumer to decide to spend $79 on a replacement battery to fix the performance problem was known to Apple through the throttling routine on the phone (they said themselves their fix had eliminated 70% of the shutdowns according to diagnostic data transmitted from customers' phones) but was not communicated to the customer or apparently the Apple Genius personnel doing the capacity test. These customers relied on Apple employees (as agents for Apple) telling them their phone was performing as expected with no battery issues even though Apple had clandestinely implemented a throttling routine.
A battery may be a consumable item, but Apple employees directly told at least some consumers their batteries were fine even though they had degraded enough to apparently trigger the throttling. To the extent Apple knew or should have known their agents were providing false or misleading information those claims may go forward.
No one really knows why Forstall was fired. Rumor (rumor) has it he wouldn’t sign a letter apologizing for the Maps launch. It is also rumored his peers hated working with him.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207453
Mmm, basically they’ve repeated what they’ve been saying in the support document.
Chances are folk still won’t read it.